Ninjak goes toe-to-toe with the brains of the Shadow Seven operation: the deadly and very intelligent Fitzy. But as Colin King discovers he has much more in common with this group of thieves and murderers than he’d like, will he be able to hold onto his honor…and his sanity?

The eighth issue of the ongoing monthly Ninjak series continues the story arc that began a couple of issues ago, The Shadow Wars, and also features the back up strip that has been as enjoyable, if not more so, than the main arc – for me at least. The beauty of the main arc is that even three issues in, it’s still just as easy to pick up this issue to jump on board.

The last issue of Ninjak was good, but not quite what I was expecting. This issue was, honestly, pretty much the same. I’m really enjoying the series so far, especially the way in which Matt Kindt is subverting my expectations of  story featuring a character that can be easily expected to have some poetic sword action in between lengthy stealth and spy bits. That’s certainly not to say those things aren’t present in the arc, issue #7 had a rather brutal encounter between Ninjak and his opponent, but we also see just how cerebral Ninjak can be.

It’s a very interesting way of treating a character that could easily slip into the trap of a needlessly violent comic book for no other reason than the main character is a ninja.

This issue spends a lot of time building up Ninjak‘s target, Fitzy, showing us just how deadly and dangerous the man is. The glimpse into his back story felt complete enough for the story’s purpose, but still felt partially incomplete – that is honestly a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, however, in an issue that I really enjoyed. Juan Jose Ryp has delivered another brilliantly constructed and detailed piece of art, and I was constantly impressed at how much emotion he was able to convey on Ninjak‘s masked face.

The back up story, The Lost Files, continues to be a highlight for me, and in many ways I’m enjoying seeing this unfold more than the main story. Perhaps because it reminds me of the training scenes Bruce Wayne received in Batman Begins. I’m enjoying finding out how Colin King became the ninja we know and love today.That The Lost Files is being told as a back up story is great; by not devoting two or three full issues to the origin of Ninjak, Valiant are able to use the arc to compliment the main story, feeding us the origin gradually, while at the same time providing a great back up strip to readers.

Ninjak #8 is another solid comic from one of the best publishers around right now. If do want to start reading about Valiant‘s purple clad ninja, then this may not be the best comic to start with – it is in the middle of a story, and while you can certainly pick issue #8 up and enjoy it as the first comic you read in the arc, you may want to start with issue #6, as you may pick up some details about The Shadow Wars during the last two issues that’ll allow yo to enjoy the later issues a bit more. Either way, the story arc is worth reading.

The Shadow Wars
Writer: Matt Kindt Artist: Juan Jose Ryp
The Lost Files
Writer: Matt Kindt Artist: Stephen Sergovia
Ninjak #8 Overall
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy a FREE copy for review.